Just Another New Zealand Weekend









First things first: most of you know how much I(Kate) love Mexican food. This has been one of my constant cravings while we have lived here over the past month. Now if you were wondering, not many Mexicans live in New Zealand...hmmm suprising. Well tonight must have been my lucky night and to celebrate our actual anniversary we found an authentic Mexican restaurant owned by true Mexican people. It was so good! We both had chimichangas and chips and salsa (although sadly enough one serving is all you get). Oh yeah, and no cheese dip. But other than that a truly marvelous experience. We talked to the cook/owner and told him our story and let him know we will be his newest, most loyal customers.

Now to the weekend: We left Friday morning and Blaine drove me by his workplace. Just a factory in the middle of fields, but good to see where he spends his days. Then on towards Hanmer Springs through the winery region north of Christchurch. I as the navigator made one mistake and we ended up backtracking a good bit but we won't discuss that. We had a nice lunch at a street side cafe and then made our way to the thermal baths. The pools ranged from 27 to 40 degrees celsius (that is cold like a swimming pool to hot like a hot tub for you fahrenheit people). After the pools we took a hike up to the lookout point of the valley and mountains to watch the sunset. We went back to the pools after a bite of dinner to sit under the stars. Even though it was too cloudy to really see them it was great to have the cold air and be in the warm water surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Woke up early and ate breakfast in a little bakery then headed out for a drive through Lewis Pass. Took a short hike up to a gorgeous cascading waterfall...so amazing just to walk 20 minutes off the highway and see such beauty. When we got back to Hanmer Springs we rented 2 mountain bikes and headed off on the trails in the National Forest 5 minutes from the middle of town. This time Blaine got us a little lost, but we won't discuss that either. Showered and headed to The Heritage, the old hotel/restaurant, where we had a very gourmet dinner. I had a rack of lamb for the first time and Blaine had a ribeye. The wonderful presentation of the food matched the taste. Sunday morning we left the lodge early to drive to Kaikoura which is a coastal town around 2 hours away. The drive alone was through beautiful pastures and winding roads and then we turned a corner and the turquoise Pacific Ocean opened up before us. I think we both decided that Kaikoura is the most beautiful place we have ever seen. This is one of two places in New Zealand where the mountains fall directly into the ocean. We both saw our first whale! It is rare for whales to be close to the shore, but the water just off the shore is extremely deep! The baby and her mom were playing and spraying water up in the air and drew quite a crowd of spectators! I was so glad I had my binoculars. We also drove down to the seal site; I didn't see the sign that you were not supposed to get within 10 meters of the seals...so I got some really good pictures! We hiked up to a view of the ocean, mountains and town...wow. The pictures really don't do it justice; you are all just going to have to come visit to see it firsthand. We visited a local winery and took the tour and did the tasting. Wine is a booming industry here in New Zealand, and we learned a lot about wine making. The drive back down the coast was beautiful, but we were happy to get back home, no wrong turns this time.